ANTONOV 225

WHAT IT IS

The Antonov An-225 Mriya is currently the world's largest aircraft, the most heavy-lift one ever raised in the air and the largest airplane ever built (yes, even bigger than the Airbus A380, before you ask). It was designed and built between 1984-1988 in Ukraine (country of the extinct U.S.S.R. or Soviet Union). Its first flight took place on December 21, 1988 and it entered in service in 1989 (at that time, it surpassed the overall size of any airplane built before by 50%).

Its design was an enlargement of the successful Antonov An-124 Ruslan cargo aircraft. To meet the needs of its new role, fuselage barrel extensions were added fore and aft of the wings, which received root extensions. Two more Ivchenko Progress D-18T turbofan engines were added to the new wing roots (bringing the total to six) and an increased-capacity landing gear system with 32 wheels was designed. The An-124's rear cargo door and ramp were removed to save weight, and the empennage was changed from a single vertical stabilizer to a twin tail with an oversized horizontal stabilizer (the twin tail was made necessary by the requirement to carry very large and heavy external loads, which would disturb the aerodynamics of a conventional tail).

WHAT IT DOES

As a strategic airlift aircraft, this airplane transports cargoes so huge and heavy that never could be carried by other conventional cargo aircrafts. Unlike the An-124, the An-225 was not intended for tactical airlifting and is not designed for short-field operation. However, it lands on bare earth ground (with or without rain) and even on snow (for example, the desert and remote regions of the freezing Siberia). It is able to perform the following missions:

• Transportation of a wide range of cargoes (large-sized, heavy, long-sized) with a total weight up to 250 T
• Intracontinental, non-stop airlift of cargoes of 180-200 T
• Intercontinental airlift of cargoes with weight up to 150 T
• As the basis for the aerospace systems

Its cargo compartment is pressurized, what significantly enhances its transportation habilities. The airborne cargo handling equipment and also the design of the front cargo door (with a ramp) provides quick and convenient loading/unloading operations (specially for very big and complex equipments). The huge cargo compartment of this airplane allows it to carry a variety of, well, huge cargoes. For example:

• 16 standard aeronautical containers of UAC-10 type (of 10 T each)
• 50 auto cars
• Cargoes up to 200 T (turbines, generators, dump trucks etc.)
• The complete assembled fuselage of a Boeing 737

As if that wasn't enough, the An-225 is also capable to transport outside (on its upper fuselage) unique, heavy large-sized cargoes which dimensions would not allow them to be carried by any other ground vehicles or aircrafts (until 70 m long). There is an appropriate load securement system specially designed to attach these cargoes on its top.

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY

The Antonov An-225 was originally a military aircraft, designed to transport the Russian space shuttle "Buran" (which name means "snow storm" or "blizzard"), including its launching components (such as the Energia rocket's boosters), from the place of production and assembly to the place of launch.

A second An-225 was partially built during the late 1980s for use by the Soviet space program. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 and the cancellation of the Buran space program, the lone operational An-225 was placed in storage. The six Ivchenko Progress engines were removed for use on An-124s, and the second An-225 airframe (nearing completion and awaiting engines) was also mothballed. In the late 1980s, efforts were begun by the Soviet government to generate revenue from its military assets. In 1989, a holding company was set up by the Antonov Design Bureau as a heavy airlift shipping corporation under the name "Antonov Airlines", based in Kiev, Ukraine and operating from London Luton Airport in partnership with Air Foyle HeavyLift. As the Soviet/U.S.S.R.'s space program was in its last years, the An-225 was considered and accepted to be the prime way to transport the Buran Shuttle. The company initiated operations with a fleet of four An-124-100s and three Antonov An-12s, but by the late 1990s a need for an aircraft larger than the An-124 became apparent. In response, the original An-225 was re-engined, modified for heavy cargo transport, and placed back in service under the management of Antonov Airlines. On 23 May 2001, the An-225 received its type certificate from the "Interstate Aviation Committee Aviation Register" (IACAR). The type's first flight in commercial service departed from Stuttgart (Germany) on January/03/2002, and flew to Thumrait (Oman) with 216,000 prepared meals for american military personnel based in the region. This vast amount of ready meals was transported on 375 pallets and weighed 187.5 T. Since then, the An-225 has become the major workhorse of the Antonov Airlines fleet, transporting objects once thought impossible to moved by air, such as locomotives and 150-ton generators, and has become a valuable asset to international relief organizations for its ability to quickly transport huge quantities of emergency supplies during disaster relief operations. By 2000, it had become apparent that the demand for the An-225 had exceeded the airline's booking capacity, and in September 2006 the decision was made to complete the second An-225. Assembly is scheduled to complete in 2008. Beginning in June 2003, the An-225, along with An-124s, delivered over 800 tons of equipment to aid humanitarian efforts in Iraq. The An-225 has also been contracted by the Canadian and U.S. governments to transport military supplies to the Middle East in support of Coalition forces.

THE FALL

After the cancellation of the Soviet space shuttle program in 1993, the only An-225 built was stored in spring 1994, and its engines were used for An-124s. In 2001 the aircraft was made airworthy again, and made its new first flight on May 7.

Millionaire entrepreneurs made several bizarre proposals, like turn it into a hotel plane, with bedrooms and suites on the second floor and swimming pools and casino in the cargo compartment. With modifications, it could carry around 1500 people as a passenger airplane.

THE RISE OF THE PHOENYX

Its developers received, until 1988, financial resources from the extinct U.S.S.R.. However, when the "Cold War" was over, the Soviet Union collapsed and in 1991 their spacial program was cancelled (lost its financial resources), although it already had accomplished its mission of carrying the Buran for around three years. Both An-225s stood still on the ground for 8 years, exposed to the elements, being cannibalized and plucked, so their parts could be used in other airplanes, in order to save the company that built him from the financial bankruptcy - to be born again later as capitalist tools of a new economical world. / workers of the ex-USSR to take off towards a new economical world. Antonov Airlines had them as "white elefants". But the market was in need of airplanes that could carry cargoes weighting more than 200 T. Since the Antonov An-124 (its "little brother") had a payload limit of "just" 150 T, then they decided to make the An-225 be born again from the aconomical ashes of the extinct Soviet Union. So far a militar aircraft, it had to undergo through a "surgery", through which several militar resources were taken out (it took about 1 year; removed parts were put back again, systems were updated - a US$ 20,000,000 investment). It was necessary more than 8 tests so the reborn An-225 were allowed to fly as a commercial aircraft (what happened in April 2001).

The Antonov An-225 is commercially available as an airlift transport aircraft to carry any over-sized payload due to the unique size of its cargo deck.

Nowadays AN-225 aircraft is performing the commercial flights being in the staff of the ANTONOV ASTC aircraft division named ANTONOV AIRLINES. The design work is conducted now to use the aircraft as a flying launch system for the future aerospace systems. One of the most advanced projects is the MAKS joint Russian/Ukrainian multi-purpose aerospace system.

Although currently there is only one An-225 operating, two ones have been initially produced. The second aircraft was partially built, but its construction was interrupted. Just in early 2002 Antonov started working again on this second mothballed bird to bring it to flying status. It is being reconditioned and is scheduled for completion around late 2008. The tail number of the An-225 currently in service is "UR-82060".

In addition, currently their engineers are testing aerodynamic models of extra cargo compartments (to be placed outside of its fuselage, where the soviet space shuttle used to be carried).

THE PEOPLE BEHIND IT

"Antonov ASTC" is a ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and services company (this name responds for its trademark and products). "Antonov Airlines" ("Antonov Design Bureau") is a ukrainian cargo airline, division of the "Antonov ASTC". "Antonov Airport", better known as Gostomel Airport, is a ukrainian airport operated by "Antonov ASTC" (which is the main base for the "Antonov Airlines"). AA was established and started operations in 1989, when it entered into a marketing agreement with Air Foyle to market the Antonov An-124 cargo charters worldwide. This led to the Antonov Design Bureau (which wholly owns the airline) and to its own operating certificate.

Antonov Airlines is located in Kiev, Ukraine, nestle of the Antonovs and where Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov, the idealizer of this fantastic machine, was born. He died in 1984 at 78 and didn't have the opportunity to see his Mriya takes off.

CURIOSITIES

• The pilot which was designated to make its first flight (Mikhail Kharchenko) looked at that giant (still in the assembly hangar), scratched his head and said: "It's not possible that this airplane can leave the ground..."
  
  
• In just a few months of flight, the An-225 has broken many world records, including takeoff weight, cargo capabilities, altitude and range. In March 22, 1989, it made a unique flight with a cargo of 156.3 tons, which simultaneously broke 110 world aviation records (such an achievement is a record itself). In September 2001, carrying a record load of 253.82 tonnes of cargo, the An-225 flew at an altitude of 2 km (6,561 feet) over a closed circuit of 1000 km (621 miles) at a speed of 763.2 km/h (474.23 mph). In November 2004, FAI placed the An-225 in the Guiness Book of World's Records for its 240 records! Of course, the An-225 was not created to set records, but its magnitude and capabilities inevitably keep them coming.
  
  
• All management systems are quaduplicated.
  
  
• NATO reporting names are unclassified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw pact and China). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English language words in a uniform manner in place of the original designations — which may have been unknown at the time or easily confused codes. Much of this so-named equipment remains in use, and NATO reporting names are frequently used.
  
  
• "Antonov" is a common Slavic (particularly Russian) surname, widely found in the former Soviet Union.
  
  
• "Mriya" means "dream" in ukrainian.
  
  
• On May 12, 2002, a hangar housing the Buran 1.01 orbiter (the actual Buran that flew in 1988) collapsed due to poor maintenance in Kazakhstan. The collapse killed 8 workers and destroyed the space shuttle, as well as a mock-up of an Energia booster rocket. Buran Object 1.01 was a property of Kazakhstan.

Fotos fornecidas pela www.airliners.net. Exibidas com permissão.